Emergency Exit
by phoenix521
Summary: This is my second fic on this site. 1st was for VHD. Any who, this is a semisong fic, I guess, inspired by Emergency Exit by Sense Field. If you review, please be kind..and enjoy the story!


Start Note: This is my first Trigun story. I was inspired by the song, "Emergency Exit" by a now departed group called Sense Field. I swear this song is written in response to Trigun, but then again, that's just me. Just so you know: I'm going off the anime. I've never read the mangas, but I'm totally getting on that! I hope you enjoy this, cause I had fun writing it. Review if ya want, just nothing too harsh, thanks. And of course, I don't own Trigun or any of the characters…duh. Now on with the show!

_Italics_ song

Not italics story

simple enough :)

_Emergency Exit _

_Insurance case, we all lose our heads… _

Meryl Strife and Milly Thompson, of the Bernardelli Insurance Agency, roved through the harsh deserts of Gunsmoke, desperately seeking that infamous outlaw, Vash the Stampede

"Gee Meryl, what do you think this Stampede man looks like anyway?" Milly chirped out in her usually chipper voice.

"I dunno, Milly. A lot of people say he has short legs, a Mohawk and where's red. And if that many people agree, I guess they can't be wrong," Meryl answered back, in her authoritative voice.

"I guess so, Meryl. Do you think he'll like the donuts that we're bringing?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, Milly. God, can't these damn thomas go any faster?"

The two insurance girls continued on their way until they come upon a group of bandits. There were several of them, including a goofy-looking idiot tied up next to a rock. And right in the middle of them all was a very large man, who happened to be standing on stout legs, sporting a Mohawk, and wearing red.

"Gee Meryl; do you think that's Vash?" Milly whispered to her partner.

"He sure fits the descriptions we've been getting. It has to be him. Come on, Milly, let's do our job."

And with that, Meryl took out the peace offering of donuts, and with Milly in tow, approached what appeared to be Vash the Stampede, and stated her case.

"Ha, ha, ha!" The man laughed in Meryl's face. "Me? Vash the Stampede? Are you crazy? That man right there (pointing in the real Vash's direction) is the real Vash. And we're about to cash in on the bounty!"

"Him? He couldn't possibly be Vash! He's just a big goof!" Meryl retorted.

"Hey!" Vash whined from the sidelines, consequently falling on his side.

"Well, believe it or not, missy, he's the real deal."

_Promise I won't drink myself to death…_

"Man, I think I'll have another glass of that, please, ma'am!" Vash slurred out.

He was at the local tavern, drunk off his arse…again. With that hideous green and orange tie wrapped around his drunken head, Vash raised his glass and got a cheer from the patrons in the bar.

"Life doesn't get much better than this! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Vash called out once again, showing that he was good and liquored up.

As a lull in the saloon rose, Vash sat at the end of the bar and started thinking about those pesky Insurance Girls.

'Oh man, what am I gonna do about them? They've been following me for 3 months straight, now. No matter what I do or where I go, they're always right behind me. Geez!'

"Yeah, I just beat this cheatin' scum! Another round, on me!" An intoxicated card shark announced.

Vash grabbed his shot and downed it in one swallow.

'The Big Girl is really, really smart. Let's just hope she never realizes that. And the Short Girl, well she's just bitchy. How do I get myself into these things?'

_Baby, before I do anything…_

As Vash got up and started to stumble out of the bar, mind quite full of thoughts about his current predicament, he felt a rumble down below.

"Outta the way! I think I'm gonna be sick!"

_Emergency exit to escape my head…_

Once in his hotel room, quite aware of the two women occupying the room not even five doors down, Vash fell into bed and closed his eyes…

'Oh Rem, when did things get so complicated? Have I gone wrong? And what am I supposed to do now? You asked me to take care of Knives, but I don't even know where in the hell Knives is? And these girls don't help, either.

'All I wanted was an Eden, much like the one you told us about. No death, no pain, no suffering; just happiness. And you and me and Knives and everyone. Can I still have that Rem? Can I?'

_And I love you to death,  
I, I love you to death.  
I, I love you to death…_

After a few encounters with the Gung-ho Guns, Knives was now a constant thought in Vash's mind. Where was his brother and why was he doing this?

All Vash wanted was for Knives to see things his way, not his normal, "kill the spiders" way. But all Vash was getting now was wave after wave of assassins.

Did his brother want him dead? Vash couldn't understand why that would be. He loved his brother, loved him dearly, and yet it seems that all Knives wanted was death. Even if it meant Vash as well.

Vash wasn't about to go down that easily, though, not without a fight…

_I, I love you to…_

_Insurance case we go crazy…_

Meryl was typing away furiously at her typewriter, trying to best explain the Humanoid Typhoon, mankind's first Human Disaster. It was getting harder and harder to follow this man. Everywhere he went danger was waiting for him, ready to strike. Her life, as well as Milly's, was in constant threat, but they still had a job to do.

"Hey Meryl? Why do you think so many bad things happen to Mr. Vash?" Milly questioned, effectively breaking Meryl out of her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, who knows, Milly? Sometimes, even the best of people have the worst of situations thrust upon them. It's not fair, but then life isn't always fair, is it."

"But you have to admire him, Meryl. In every situation he's in, he has never killed anyone. He has such strong morals and I don't know anyone who would ever stick to that way of life in those types of situations."

"I know what you mean, Milly. He really is amazing…"

_Promise me you won't worry yourself sick…_

Meryl. Why was she a constant in Vash's mind? When he found himself at his lowest, her angry voice would cut through the clouds and show him the light again. She really was something else.

And after being around these two for so long, now, Vash surely knew that Meryl wasn't the harpy she made herself out to be. But one constant Meryl did have was her worrying. Always worrying about him.

It felt kind of good, when he stopped and thought about it. To have someone worry, to have someone care. Even after all that they had been through with him: The Fifth Moon incident, the Gung-ho Guns, all of it. Those two were the only good constants in his life right now. Unless, of course, you count the Priest. Wolfwood wasn't always the best churchman or the nicest fellow to be around, but he was also something good in Vash's life at the moment. And aside from the whole Legato/Knives situation, life could be good.

Now, if he could only find a way to get Meryl to trust him to trust himself…

_Baby, don't over think everything.  
Emergency exit to escape my head…_

After checking out of another hotel, preparing to head off to another town, still in search of Knives, Vash set out; Insurance Girls obviously in tow.

"Mr. Vash," Meryl bit out, "I sure hope you aren't going to get us into even more trouble. You tend to do that to us a lot!"

Vash just turned around and flashed Meryl a $$60,000,000,000 smile. Not the fake ones that Wolfwood always pointed out, but a genuine one from the heart.

_And I love you to death,  
I, I love you to death.  
I, I love you to…_

"It's either me, or the girls. It's your choice, Vash," Legato stated, that sadistic smile plastered across his ever ready face.

With his colt resting on Legato's forehead, Vash grappled with the voices in his head. He couldn't kill Legato. He couldn't. What would Rem think? But he couldn't let the Insurance Girls be killed, either. What was he to do?

'Rem? Rem, what do I do? I love you, Rem. I swear I do.'

That shot rang out, washed over the outlaw, down the mountainside and out among the desert. Everyone was on the ground. Everyone was out. One was dead. And Vash was lost. What had he done? What was he know?

_Don't want you to go around,  
Forget everyone,  
Forget everyone now…_

Vash lay in bed, thoughts solely concentrated on one thing: he had killed a man. Now, he really was the monster that everyone made him out to be. Why did it come to that? There had to be another way. There was always another way. And why had he done it?

Did he care that much about these Insurance Girls? The bane in his existence since day one, they had gotten under his skin, so it seemed. Especially the hot-headed, short-tempered Short Girl. He had done it for her, for the memory of Rem.

His ticket was clean. His ticket to the future was always open. Perhaps, even after all of this, he could still go on. He had to go on. He still had to take care of Knives. He almost failed Rem, but not again. And with that thought, he got out of bed.

_Don't want you to go around,  
Forget everyone,  
Forget everything now…_

He had killed a man. Vash actually took someone's life. And Meryl had no idea how to feel. And he had done it for her. Well, her and Milly, of course. This really wasn't the Humanoid Typhoon that she thought she knew. Now, he was so much more.

No longer was he the one dimensional goofball who cried all the time. He had changed, and there was no way around that. And in Meryl's opinion, it was a change for the better. She now trusted Vash, especially when it came to trusting himself. But what would happen now?

"Gee, Sempai, what do you think Mr. Vash will do now?" Milly, ever inquisitive, questioned her friend.

"I don't know, Milly. I guess he'll go find Knives. It's the only things he hasn't gotten done, yet. And speaking of getting done," Meryl's tone changed, realizing that she was getting soft on the outlaw, "I still have tons of paperwork to do! This man will never let me rest!"

Milly just smiled at her comrade, realizing that the mayfly of love wasn't as elusive as either of them thought.

_It's just you and I…_

_I, I love you_

Vash walked down the steps of his temporary home, a new found courage and determination in his gait. He finally understood what Rem meant all of those times, and he was finally going to live his life his way. And he knew that was going to be okay with Rem. And foremost, Vash was going to finally take care of Knives.

_I, I love you…_

Meryl waited outside, back against the wall, head down to hide her tears. She had been listening to Vash get ready, dreading saying goodbye. She knew full well he was going to fight his brother, and if Knives was as difficult in person as he was through his arsenal, Meryl also knew that this could be the last time she ever saw Vash. She watched him as he left their little home, wondering what could have been.

_I, I love you…_

"Do we mean that little to you Vash? You can't even say goodbye?" Meryl asked, never looking up.

Vash stopped and turned back around to face her. As she raised her head, tears full in her sad, grey eyes, Vash couldn't remember a time that Meryl looked so beautiful. He walked slowly back to her, she approaching him as well.

"Ya know," Vash began, "I love you…"

"…to death? Ya Vash, I know…"

Vash cut her off with a sweet kiss. They savored the feeling before he broke the contact. He then pulled out his yellow glasses and put them on. Pushing them up with the middle finger of his left hand, as always, Vash cast her one more smile, then turned around. He walked off, ready to fight, ready to win, and ready to live.

_FIN  
_

End Note: Well, there it is. I hope you liked it. I admit; I got a little teary at the end. I think it turned out well. Now, go out and find "Emergency Exit" by Sense Field and see what I mean. I'm not joking about how awesome this song is. Thanks for your time and have a great (insert time of day here)!


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